A day around Killarney.

We'd missed the courier cut off for getting a new tyre on Tuesday but I had asked the man at the tyre centre to order the tyre for me, and figured I could either get it fitted on the Wednesday if we hung around Kilkarney or if we moved, get it fitted on the Thursday on the way back up. So after some more humming and hawing we decided to do option A. He said the tyre would be here back if 11 on Wednesday morning. Joyce was up sharp today and jogged into the centre of town and back following last evening route, so she got her 5k done no problem, it was a very level run.
After a leisurely breakfast at Whitebridge Campsite we headed to Ross Island and Ross Castle. We had a nice walk around the Island through a superb mixed woodland, and thank goodness for the trees!! It was blowing an absolute hoolie, the waves on the Lough were like big white horses. Had this been my walking In day I would not have gotten along that ridge. Joyce and Logan missed the best part of the loop as they headed back to the van to make lunch, myself and Callum extended the walk around the copper mine loop which was interesting and had the best scenery, in 1827 the Ross Island copper mine was built right beside the lough and was productive, the ore was sent to wales to be smelted, ultimately it was doomed to failure as it continually flooded and only lasted a year or two. There is a castle here also that dates from the 15th century and has an interesting past. It was built by the local clan the O'Donoghues, it changed hands a few times and was one of the last in the area to be surrendered to Oliver Cromwell during the Irish Confederate wars. It was modified many times,  became a military barracks and was eventually allowed to (intentionally) fall into disrepair in order that the then owner didn't have to pay taxes on it, he removed the roof as it was then no longer called an abode. It has now been fully and painstakingly restored using original building methods where possible and is well worth a visit.
Keith at Cronin's yard had recommended if we got the chance we should visit and eat at Kate Kearney's cottage. Its on the road to the Gap of Dunloe, so given we were still in the area we decided to given it a go. I called to book a table, but it was either 6pm sharp or 8pm as they were busy-seems the norm around here. 6 was too early as our lunch had been late, so we plumped for the 8pm slot, also the music was scheduled to start at 7.30, perfect. The lady said we should get up and parked in the carpark early however as 3 buses were scheduled to arrive, so we headed up at about 4.30pm. We got the best parking spot just in the nick of time as 2 other motorhomes arrived about 30 seconds after us. This is quite a wee tourist trap, but we are tourists at the end of the day and popped in for a look around the wee shop that's attached to the Cottage. We needed a few wee gifts to take home so that was sorted and then we had a look around the pub, its a lovely place, quite big and had a roasty log burner in the corner, I fancied a Guiness and asked the bar lady if that was possible with the boys and of course it was no problem, lol.......Scotland are you listening? We were prepared and had some crayons and colouring in stuffs for the boys so we stayed and had a couple of drinks. The plan was to get the boys bedded for an hour before dinner time so Joyce and Callum left to try and get Callum off to sleep. This didn't go down to well of course, lol. However, by the time Logan and myself left and got over to the van about 10 minutes later he was nearly asleep. Logan was tired, so the 2 of them had a good hour and a half power snooze.
Myself and Joyce nipped back over to the pub for a few more drinks as they slept..............wishful thinking, lol. No seriously, we had a game of scrabble and a beer in the van, we didn't quite get the scrabble finished but left it sitting and took a we photo of the board incase it got disturbed by the boys, which it did lol.
Logan woke up fine at tea time, but Callum was just as unhappy to wake up as he had been to go to sleep, I know that feeling, but at their age a nap is still very much a benefit. We got changed and headed over at 8, and got good seats in the bar area, we could see the wee band who were playing. The boys were great, we chatted to the other motorhomers who were over from England Shire for a fortnight, they were very complimentary about the boys.
The food was decent and the portions big, the Guiness went down well and the wee band were quite good, the place emptied quickly however once the bus loads of tourists departed, that's fine by us, we are not here to sit in pubs drinking all night.